History under fire

May 19, 2008

Zululand OBSERVER

	History under fire IFP supporters march in protest against the textbook 'Search for History' uMhlathuze IFP Chairman Dumisani Nxumalo (centre) looks on as the textbook 'Search for History' is burned during the march Lesley Stephenson THE Inkhatha Freedom Party marched down Empangeni's Main Road on Thursday in protest against the 'blatant lies' and 'propaganda' apparently contained in the Grade 12 textbook 'Search for History'. According to the IFP memorandum, which was delivered to the representative of Education Minister Naledi Pandor, District Manager Mrs G. Sidaki, the textbook 'depicts a biased account of the low intensity civil war which claimed the lives of many IFP and ANC supporters in the run-up to South Africa's first democratic elections'. The main cause of dispute is a cartoon in the textbook which depicts IFP President Prince Mangosothu Buthelezi 'signing on' to the new South Africa using the spilt blood of victims of political violence as ink, this 'without any attempt at an objective commentary'. The IFP also questions the timing of the textbook's distribution, launched in early 2008, as they claim that it was intended to harm the IFP's chances in the 2009 election. Condemning the textbook in favour of 'an education free of residual bias', the IFP burned the offending book during a public demonstration 'We uphold the view that school textbooks should disseminate factual information and stimulate independent thinking, not form strong political opinions based on a lopsided presentation of past events'. Conflicting voices It was reported that education spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele has stated that the textbook in question is not a mandatory textbook, but additional material that is being used by some schools. Ngqengelele also said that Buthelezi met with Pandor in 2007 regarding the content of the book and the allegations were subsequently investigated. The outcome of these investigations are not yet available. Both the National Teachers' Union and the South African Democratic Teachers' Union have expressed concern over the accuracy of the history textbooks.